During Wednesday’s session of the Bolesławiec City Council, Mayor Piotr Roman informed councillors that he had appointed a three-person team to prepare, within a month, a report on where in our city there are places that could serve as shelters for civilians. The team includes two retired officials of the Bolesławiec municipal office: Krystyna Hodowana and “an outstanding builder,” Marian Ciemnoczołowski, as well as a military officer, Col. Mirosław Sołtyszewski.

– The military doctrine assumed that shelters would no longer be needed, so they were not built – P. Roman remarked sarcastically. – I even heard that the launch of a government Schron+ program is being considered.

He also stressed that these were very serious failures on the part of all Polish governments.

The information was addressed by Zdzisław Abramowicz, a councillor from the Bezpartyjni i Ziemia Bolesławiecka club and a regionalist:

It is obvious that we are not prepared at all to protect the population even in the event of conventional artillery or air attacks. Not to mention that, apparently, about 70% of the former German air-raid trenches—which are already worthless anyway—have been eliminated. And rightly so. They could only have been historical monuments by now.

He also proposed:

It would be best to develop a plan from scratch outlining what can be done, rather than looking for things that can be adapted to this purpose.

Piotr Roman replied:

Let’s start with how much the City of Bolesławiec receives for civil defense. About PLN 3,000 a year. With that money, we can plant flowers in one trench.

And he stressed:

This is the responsibility of the state, which can be carried out by local governments. It is the responsibility of the Polish State to develop the entire defense system. Some measures are already being taken.

This is not only a problem for the city of Bolesławiec; it is a problem for all households and hamlets. Within five minutes, the Swiss would all be able to take shelter because they have private shelters. But the situation is different in Germany.

What do you think? We invite you to join the discussion.